Grilling is a preferred means of preparing many different foods. Grilling allows that to drip away from the food before it is consumed, resulting in healthier, lower fat food. Grilling also improves the flavor of many foods. The “grill marks” produced where the food contacts the rack of the grill is the result of “caramelization,” or the browning of the sugars within the food, which improves the flavoring of the food. Additionally, the food may absorb various flavors from the smoke produced within the grilling process.
Grilling is typically performed outdoors, where charcoal or propane are burned to produce the necessary heat. Depending on the temperature and/or any precipitation, outdoor cooking may not always be desirable. Presently available indoor grills often do not reach the temperature necessary to produce caramelization, and therefore do not produce the same flavoring effects as outdoor grills. Many presently available indoor grills are also designed not to produce smoke, so that the flavoring effects of the smoke are unavailable. If smoke is produced, discharging the smoke into the interior of the house is undesirable. It is also desirable to control the heat on the exterior surfaces of indoor grills, due to their proximity to flammable materials as well as the possibility that children or others may accidently come into contact with an exterior grill surface.
An example of an indoor grill is U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,348. The grill disclosed therein includes an enclosure having an upper plate disposed below the outer housing top, creating an air space therebetween. The upper plate includes a suction opening having an electric fan to direct airflow into the space between the plate and the outer housing, where the air is heated by heating elements disposed therein. Apertures disposed near the heating elements allow the heated air to flow back into the cooking area. The motor for the fan blades also powers a second set of fan blades for directing airflow from outside of the apparatus to a space between the insulating upper wall and an outer casing. The outer casing is thereby kept cool to the touch. The airflow is intended to be hot enough to cook meat, but not hot enough to scorch meat. A second set of heat radiators is provided to scorch the surface of the meat. The fat tray is screened from hot airflow to prevent evaporation of the fat. Although this device provides the heat of a grill, it does not provide the smoke flavoring that a grill would provide.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,381,638 discloses a grill configuration having a forced air curtain. The forced air curtain is intended to limit smoke emissions from the grill. The grill includes a housing with an open top. Grilling bars are disposed a few inches below the open top. Heat sources such as charcoal receptacles with gas jets are disposed below them are positioned below the grilling bars, with a water tray positioned directly under the grilling bars. A pair of air manifolds are disposed on either side of the open top. One air manifold includes a supply fan, and the other air manifold includes an exhaust fan. Air is directed by the supply fan through the first manifolds, across the top of the grill, and into the second manifold through the exhaust fan, thereby trapping smoke below the airflow in order to flavor the food. The water tray is structured to resist burning and smoking of drippings. Air exiting the second air manifold is directed through a bubble filter having a reservoir filled with water. Although smoke is trapped during cooking, it would obviously not be trapped once the grill is opened to access the food after cooking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,979 discloses an oven type apparatus. The apparatus includes an air passage disposed between the inner and outer walls of the main portion of the device. Louvered slots provide for limited airflow between the main compartment and the air passage. A blower is provided for blowing air in a circular path through the air passage, around the main compartment. A heater, followed by a water pan, are disposed after the blower. Air circulating through the air passage creates a pressure differential between the air passage and the main compartment, causing moisture to be drawn from the main compartment into the air passage, resisting any tendency for food to become soggy. At the same time, the circulating air provides for uniform heat distribution throughout the main compartment. The device is particularly useful for slow cooking of foods, grilling effects would not be accomplished by this device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,379 discloses an outdoor cooker. The outdoor cooker includes a housing having double walled construction, having an insulating dead air space between the inner and outer walls. A fuel tray is disposed at the bottom of the housing. A deflector is located above the fuel tray, below the cooking grid. The V-shaped drip tray is disposed between the cooking grid and the deflector. Drippings are collected and prevented from contacting the burning fuel and being incinerated. The housing also includes a removable hood with an inspection opening. Food is thereby exposed to the heat indirectly rather than directly, thereby reducing the cooking temperature. Spit supports are provided so that a spit may be used to cook a large food item such as a turkey. Thus, by exposing the food to the heat indirectly, the device achieves a different purpose than that which would be achieved by grilling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,854 discloses a compact barbecue oven. The barbecue oven includes a cabinet housing a rotisserie in the upper portion of the cabinet, a firebox in the lower portion of the cabinet, a burner for burning wood within the firebox, a flue, and an exhaust unit on top of the cabinet. The cabinet walls are made of spaced apart sheets of metal. An angled baffle wall is located between the rotisserie and the firebox, shielding food on the rotisserie from the firebox. The baffle wall permits air and smoke to flow between the baffle wall and the housing, so that the heat may cook the food and the smoke may impart flavor. The rotisserie is structured to turn a group of trays in a circular path. The firebox includes a vent to permit air to enter the firebox to support combustion. The flue is structured to receive smoke and air after it has passed from the firebox to the rotisserie area, and then back down towards a rear portion of the firebox, where a fan directs air and smoke into the flue. The exhaust unit may also be used to draw smoke and air out of the oven chamber. A drip pan is located at the bottom of the chamber, below the firebox. The pan includes a drain hose. Although this device is designed to use the smoke to impart flavor, it is not designed to cause grill marks or caramelization of the food.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,050 discloses an indoor barbecue system. The barbecue system includes a mechanism for withdrawing heat and smoke from the interior so that the enclosure can remain smoke-free during cooking. Some examples are structured to connect to an already existing dryer vent system. A mechanism for disseminating an artificially flavored air stream is disposed between the heat supplying mechanism and the food. The exhaust conduit includes a fan assembly for extracting smoke and heat through the exhaust conduit. A drip pan is disposed immediately below the cooking surface, so the drippings do not reach the heat supplying mechanism. Although this system will clearly dissipate smoke during cooking, it might be desirable instead to retain a certain amount of smoke for flavoring purposes, and then to dissipate this smoke at the conclusion of cooking.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,301,128 discloses a portable electric grill. The grill includes a central frame member having first and second hingedly attached frame members on either side. One of the hingedly attached frame members supports a griddle surface, and the other supports a grill surface. The grill plate and griddle plate have raised peripheral edges to retain grease drippings. The drippings are carried by drain tubes to a drip tray. The drip tray is located within the central frame member. The first and second frame members can be folded from a vertical storage and transportation position to a horizontal cooking position. The central frame member includes a removable vent plate wherein an air filter is disposed. An exhaust fan used to draw smoke and cooking fumes through the vent plate and filter, propelling the filtered air through an exhaust vent. With no lid, this device has no way to retain a certain amount of smoke in the cooking area for flavoring.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,741 discloses an indoor and outdoor smokeless grill. The exterior housing is a round a sleeve that is structured to be positioned above the stove. A grill is mounted on top of a round dish that sits on top of the sleeve. A water tray is disposed within the sleeve to catch drippings from the grill. The water tray is filled with water. The water in the water tray boils, turning to steam, and preventing the food from burning, by reducing the temperature of the heating air. In one example, the water container is connected to a bimetallic strip. When the bimetallic strip is heated, it pulls the water container upward, reducing the size of the air passage around the water container, and thereby controlling the extent to which the food is heated. This device will result in a different cooking effect than grilling: rather than producing grill marks and caramelization, this device will resist burning during cooking.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,842 discloses an indoor grill having a filter. The base includes a cooking surface. A post extends upward from the rear of the base to support a filter unit thereon. The filter system includes a hood for collecting smoke and other combustion byproducts, a ventilation system including a fan, and a replaceable filter. The grill is open, so smoke will either be absorbed by the filter system or dissipated into the surrounding air, leaving no way to retain a desired amount of smoke in the cooking area for flavoring.
U.S. 4,800,865 discloses a portable cooking device. The device includes a housing that is structured to overlie a conventional barbecue grill. The bottom surface of the housing is semi conductive of heat. A partition is disposed on either end of the cooking surface, with an opening defined in the housing on the opposite side of the partition to allow heat and smoke to pass around the edges of the cooking surface, around the partition, and then into the area where food is cooked. Vents are provided to allow heat and smoke to vent from a lower portion of the cooking chamber. This device does little to reduce the problem of smoke during indoor grilling.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved indoor grill. There is an additional need for an indoor grill that approximates the cooking characteristics of an outdoor grill, including caramelization, grill marks, and smoke flavoring. There is a further need for an indoor grill that resists the passage of smoke out of the grill into the interior of the building. There is yet another need for an indoor grill that retains a desired amount of smoke within its hood, and then removes that smoke through its filtration system upon opening the grill.